Magic the Gathering X: Deal X damage to target thread.

[Squark]

I picked up Mirror Mastery, although my store's release event was... nonstandard, to say the least;

You didn't need to buy the deck, for one. Instead, it was the kickoff for the store's commander league. Also, winning wasn't the most important thing; Instead, everyone got achievement cards, and you could get points for a lot of things. I got Emo (Deal 20 damage to yourself over the course of the game, after I earthquaked twice) and Vomit your hand (play seven cards from your hand in one turn). Winning the game got you two points, losing first got a point, losing last got a point, and killing a player got a point. Other achievements included one for giving someone at least 5 permanents, being at the lowest life total below 10 when the first player was eliminated, and for causing at least 5 permanents to change zones when you where about to die.

Destroying more than 4 of 1 player's lands, killing some one before turn 5, killing more than 2 players in one turn, and taking more than 2 extra turns in a row all costed points.

Now I'm torn between making an Edric deck based around politics, or a Riku deck that's obsessed with cantrips. Also, If Riku copies a spell with join forces (or, for that matter, if any spell copies a join forces spell)... what happens?

[Narkis]

Our release event will be next Saturday, since there's the Nationals today and tomorrow. And we'll be able to bring our own decks.

Squark, how did you and the other players like your event? I've been pushing hard to have an achievement-based tournament just like yours, and I'd like to hear your experience of one.

[Sohala]

The EDH release was awesome! We used the provided acheivement cards though.

Playing with Counterpunch, Karador as my general, I lost to only an Insurrection.

Oh and a second turn Spawnwrithe is silly.

[Frankelshtein]

So, my FLGS decided to run a tournament as opposed to a Game Day type event. It was seven dollars to enter into a one-round, four person game of EDH. I decided to enter anyway, figuring it would be a fun way to see how my new Savra EDH deck would fare against others. What I neglected to consider was that the prizes (new Commander decks) would only be handed out to the last man standing in every group of four, so everyone brought their game faces, and serious(ly broken) EDH decks. After eight minutes of stony-faced silence, the player on my right went critical and won (Timestrech into a Mind Over Matter + Niv-Mizzet + Arcanis combo). So, for seven dollars, I got to play four lands, a Soul Stair Expedition, and a Hag Hedge-Mage At least I got an oversized Edric out of it.

On the plus side, I got to play a really good game after that. The big threat at the table had gotten himself down to 19 through black card-draw and Mana Crypt, so I was able to kill him with a Doomgape swing into Rite of Consumption. After getting Mind Twisted out of a possible win by the last remaining player, I had Savra and a Nim Deathmantle in play, and I dropped a Mycoloth, devouring two creatures. My opponent swung with Grave Titan, 4 zombies, and Inkwell Leviathan. I was able to block the Grave Titan with Mycoloth, Deathmantle it back into play, and devour my four Saprolings from last turn, gaining 8 life, for a net loss of 7. Four turns later, through various shenanigans involving Abyssal Gatekeeper, and a flashbacked Dread Return, I ended up with a 66/66 Mycoloth, and 98 life I ended up losing that game, but it was still gratifying to see that my deck can pull off silly things like that.

[tgva8889]

Now I'm torn between making an Edric deck based around politics, or a Riku deck that's obsessed with cantrips. Also, If Riku copies a spell with join forces (or, for that matter, if any spell copies a join forces spell)... what happens?

Nothing special. Because of the way Join Forces is worded, when the first copy resolves everyone pays mana, then the effect happens, then when the second copy resolves, everyone has the option of paying mana again, then the second effect happens using whatever mana was paid the second time.

Also, the reason for the Achievement cards is that, well, EDH isn't a game where the objective is to have slain all your opponents. It's really more about creating a memorable play experience. Sometimes winning is really memorable, but I think it's more memorable to score a kill by resolving 6 copies of Titan's Revenge using the same copy of the card because you won 2 Clashes. For example. Or perhaps that awesome time when you turned all your Soldier tokens into Angels with Decree of Justice and Ashnod's Altar. Or maybe that time when you resolved two copies of Conflux. Or when you Shining Shoaled your opponent's Fireball to win the game. Or when you killed someone with your own pain land tapping for mana. Just a few memorable Magic games for me.

I dunno. Maybe that's just me.

[Squark]

Our release event will be next Saturday, since there's the Nationals today and tomorrow. And we'll be able to bring our own decks.

Squark, how did you and the other players like your event? I've been pushing hard to have an achievement-based tournament just like yours, and I'd like to hear your experience of one.

It worked fairly well. Most people got at least a few points, although the top two players were still the ones who managed to kill every single player on the board. It does alter gameplay a bit, though, because some times people will aim for the achievements. For instance, in one turn, instead of trying to win (although at that point, I knew I wasn't going to), I just cast spells like crazy (for the achievement I mentioned). Of course, the fact that we ended the game with ~20 lands in play each, and one of the guys had the green mana-flare out... Yeah. I really don't understand why I'm the only one at my table who managed to do that. Also we were all drawing cards like there was no tomorrow. I think I only had like 30 cards left in my deck.

One player also donated packs, so people got a number of packs equal to the number of points they got. I think I was the luckiest here. I pulled batterskull and Spellskite.

[Silviya]

So, my FLGS decided to run a tournament as opposed to a Game Day type event. It was seven dollars to enter into a one-round, four person game of EDH. I decided to enter anyway, figuring it would be a fun way to see how my new Savra EDH deck would fare against others. What I neglected to consider was that the prizes (new Commander decks) would only be handed out to the last man standing in every group of four, so everyone brought their game faces, and serious(ly broken) EDH decks. After eight minutes of stony-faced silence, the player on my right went critical and won (Timestrech into a Mind Over Matter + Niv-Mizzet + Arcanis combo). So, for seven dollars, I got to play four lands, a Soul Stair Expedition, and a Hag Hedge-Mage At least I got an oversized Edric out of it.

That sucks. At the launch party I went to we could either bring our own decks or buy one of the preconstructed decks, and there wasn't any entry fee, but we still got the promo cards. About half of the people there brought decks, and the other half bought the preconstructed ones. Fortunately, no one brought super broken decks, and the players playing their own decks didn't have a huge advantage over the people with the preconstructed decks.

Personally, I don't like prizes for winning in EDH. I design my EDH decks to be fun more then I design them to win. I like low pressure EDH games where you don't feel like you need to win. I agree 100% with what tgva8889 said about winning in EDH.

[BladeofOblivion]

So, I've got a new EDH deck for PbP. What do you guys think? Any necessary obvious fixes or bits of stupidity on my part?

EDH - Harvester of Sorrow

Spoiler

Show

Commander: Teneb, the Harvester

1. Shizo, Death's Storehouse
2. Overgrown Tomb
3. Bayou
4. Verdant Catacombs
5. Cabal Coffers
6. Scrubland
7. Marsh Flats
8. Temple Garden
9. Reflecting Pool
10. Savannah
11. Godless Shrine
12. Wooded Bastion
13. Fetid Heath
14. Twilight Mire
15. Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
16. Eiganjo Castle
17. Golgari Rot Farm
18. Selesnya Sanctuary
19. Orzhov Basilica
20. Gaea's Cradle
21. Crypt of Agadeem
22. Wasteland
23. Gilt-Leaf Palace
24. Grasslands
25. Karakas
26. Pendelhaven
27. Urborg
28. Razorverge Thicket
29. Bant Panorama
30. Esper Panorama
31. Jund Panorama
32. Stirring Wildwood
33. Swamp
34. Swamp
35. Swamp
36. Swamp
37. Vampiric Tutor
38. Enlightened Tutor
39. Sol Ring
40. Sensei's Divining Top
41. Reanimate
42. Entomb
43. Skullclamp
44. Swords to Plowshares
45. Eladamri's Call
46. Dance of the Dead
47. Orzhov Signet
48. Selesnya Signet
49. Golgari Signet
50. Survival of the Fittest
51. Regrowth
52. Night's Whisper
53. Saffi Eriksdotter
54. Altar of Dementia
55. Llanowar Elves
56. Sylvan Library
57. Demonic Tutor
58. Animate Dead
59. Grim Tutor
60. Coffin Queen
61. Phyrexian Arena
62. Eternal Witness
63. Elvish Piper
64. Aura of Silence
65. Seal of Primordium
66. Mimic Vat
67. Kodama's Reach
68. Genesis Wave
69. Yavamaya Elder
70. Putrefy
71. Vindicate
72. Mortify
73. Oracle of Mul Daya
74. Solemn Simulacrum
75. Linvala, Keeper of Silence
76. Geth's Verdict
77. Damnation
78. Garruk Wildspeaker
79. Academy Rector
80. Elspeth, Knight-Errant
81. Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
82. Greater Good
83. Reveillark
84. Primal Command
85. Acidic Slime
86. Living Death
87. Mirari's Wake
88. Adarkar Valkyrie
89. Grave Titan
90. Sun Titan
91. Yosei, the Morning Star
92. Kokusho, the Evening Star
93. Austere Command
94. Tooth and Nail
95. Iona, Shield of Emeria
96. Dread
97. Necroplasm
98. Pentarch Paladin
99. Yawgmoth's Bargain

I also have a legacyish casual deck that could use some work: I'm curious to see what you guys would recommend for it. You see, I don't often play Red and my black decks tend to be a bit more conservative towards life and resources, but Rakdos looks fun to play. So I probably had some very epic failures here.

Hellfire and the Black Rose

Spoiler

Show

Creatures
4x Rakdos Pit Dragon
1x Lyzolda, the Blood Witch
3x Crypt Champion
2x Gobhobbler Rats
2x Ashenmoor Liege
4x Soulbright Flamekin
2x Cinder Shade
2x Kulrath Knight

Enchantments
2x Rage Reflection
2x Fists of the Demigod
2x Anthem of Rakdos

Instants/Sorceries
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Blightning
2x Infernal Tutor
2x Terminate

Artifacts:
2x Quietus Spike

Lands:
4x Badlands
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
4x Rakdos Carnarium
4x Graven Cairns
4x Lavaclaw Reaches

Still looking for ideas and criticisms on these two decks, by the way.

[Zocelot]

Personally, I don't like prizes for winning in EDH. I design my EDH decks to be fun more then I design them to win. I like low pressure EDH games where you don't feel like you need to win. I agree 100% with what tgva8889 said about winning in EDH.

I'm not against prizes for EDH so much as against prizes in multiplayer. The system lends itself to far too much abuse. I used to play EDH only very casually, but I have very slowly become slightly more competitive. I didn't realize that until I cast Tooth and Nail for Iona and Blazing Archon against an Ezuri deck. Still, most of the time I will just try to hardcast as many fatties as possible. And I never play blue.

[tgva8889]

Still looking for ideas and criticisms on these two decks, by the way.

Immediate suggestion: Sort better. Check my post earlier in this thread where I resorted someone's list of cards for their EDH deck. It's totally useless to sort by card type, because cards of the same type all do different things. That'll really help you look at your deck and see if you need more cards in a certain section.

Not Quite As Immediate Suggestion: Link each card to... well, the card. It would make it easier for your reviewers. The less effort we need to take to review your deck, the more likely we are to review it. This doesn't have a 100% success rate, but it works more often then not.

Especially the second one for me. Sorting your deck, however, is very, very, very important, and a useful deckbuilding skill if you decide to make more decks.

[IthilanorStPete]

It happened. Jace and Stoneforge got banned in Standard.

Announcement here, explanation here.

[MammonAzrael]

Wow. I did not expect them to pull the trigger on either card, much less both.

Interesting that they made a special exception for the event deck, too.

This should shake up standard like crazy. I'm kinda excited.

Probably because I hadn't invested into either card. They've already taken a big price hit.

[Silviya]

Huh. I didn't expect them to be banned. I wonder what this will do not only to the prices of Jace and Stoneforge, but also to the prices of cards like Batterskull and the swords.
Jace may drop down to a price that I'd be willing to buy. I see that Starcitygames is selling Jace for $60.00 already.

And I second MammonAzrael. Crazy stuff is going to happen to standard. It will be interesting to see what decks become the top decks.

[The-Mage-King]

This... Is wonderful news! I'm so happy that the bastard is finally banned! I can now laugh as people panic, and the price on JtMS drops enough that it'd be reasonable to ask my family for one for my birthday in October.

[tgva8889]

Holy crap they did it.

[Fable Wright]

I was expecting the Jace banning, but... I seriously did not see the Stoneforge ban coming. In hindsight, it makes sense, but...

In related news, I agree with MammonAzarael: The new decks are going to be interesting.

[Suedars]

I was expecting the SFM ban, but didn't see the Jace one coming.

I'm still not entirely sold on it either. It might hit control decks a bit too hard, letting combo run away with the format.

Though I suppose Kibler's UB Infect Control list does get much better now, since CawBlade was always a poor matchup for it, and it dropped off the face of the earth post NPH because of how badly Batterskull wrecked it.

[ZombyWoof]

It happened. Jace and Stoneforge got banned in Standard.

Announcement here, explanation here.

Heh.

Heh heh heh.

I just traded it off for seventy like a week ago

[tgva8889]

I think the combo decks are all beatable, though. The thing about banning Jace is that it allows a much wider variety of cards to just be playable, not even good. For example, Hero of Bladehold, which failed the Jace Test, might actually see play. Mirran Crusader might also be playable. The Infect deck might see play. There might be an Aggro Infect deck. Koth-based decks may show up, as well. Venser may show up (he's so damn good with Blade Splicer). I'm not sure what the answer to ExarchTwin and Valakut is, but I don't think "CawBlade" was their only weakness.

Edit: Also Soul Sisters or some deck with Soul's Attendent and/or Suture Priest may be viable.

[Eon]

Interesting... I can't wait for the next major tournament, I want to see the change...

[Mr._Blinky]

Also, Hawkward might start being taken seriously. I played a Tempered Steel aggro deck that was pretty similar to it a little while ago and it wrecked face.

[Nerocite]

And cawblade was no more.

[The-Mage-King]

And cawblade was no more.

And there was much rejoicing.

[Zocelot]

I'm glad that they banned Jace and SFM, since those cards really messed up the format, but Caw Blade was a good matchup for my deck, Forgemaster Red, and Valakut is a bad one.

[tgva8889]

ExarchTwin will be one of the big decks for sure. That deck is probably the biggest thing to worry about.

[Narkis]

I'm not that sure about Exarch. Jace was a very important part of the deck. Especially if your first try got aborted and you started frantically searching to reassemble the combo. It'll be much less consistent now.

I really can't guess what the metagame will look like though. It's been two sets that we've had T1 decks that weren't either Cawblade, or designed to (try and) beat Cawblade. Who knows what new brews we'll see next weekend?

[tgva8889]

Maybe, but there's still quite a lot of cards to deck manipulate. We'll see. I don't think Jace is the only reason that deck was good.

[Craftworld]

For months, I have been hoping for Jace to go away, and I was content to wait til October...but this...MADE MY FREAKING WEEK!!!!!
I didn't expect SFM to go away, but I am happy about it too. Goodby Batterskull Party!

[ZombyWoof]

The great news is that people are going to try to pilot mono black which has a 10-90 matchup vs my blue/white aggro/control deck.

It also has a fairly even matchup with Valakut though my board plan vs them is pretty weak. I think I'm going to start busting out the Spreading Seas again.

[Suedars]

The great news is that people are going to try to pilot mono black which has a 10-90 matchup vs my blue/white aggro/control deck.

You realize they banned the pieces to CawBlade, right?